We have received word back from the intrepid Arctic explorers of some early success. Here is Andreas Muenchow’s latest report:
“Recovered first mooring at 80.7 N and 67.7 W. Ice profiling sonar was hit by ice 100-m below surface, light damage on guard rail, but transducers look ok. Clear skies, light winds from the south, and air temperatures of 1.9 Celsius provided optimal condition. Never before did we recover a mooring this quickly: acoustic interrogation was less than 5 minutes, another 2 minutes after release command the mooring popped up in open water 300 feet from the ship, zodiak lassoed mooring, and 20 minutes later all was aboard. It does not get better than this … attention to detail by Dr. Melling’s mooring group (Joe, Ron, Dave, and Dave) in 2009 paid off.
Petermann Ice Island edged another 1 km towards Nares Strait. I saw at least 3 much smaller segments of likely Petermann Glacier pieces yesterday, all tiny, about the size of our ship. We are now also within helicopter range of Petermann Fjord, but we have 6 more moorings to go. Good start.”
by Andreas Muenchow, Aug.-6, 2012, 12:41UTC
Icy Seas 
Dear Dr. Muenchow: I am enjoying your blogs more than reading an excellent novel or seeing a great film. I am now very “engaged” and following right along with you and your team. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences.